[May 5th] -- new Nationals' president Stan Kasten announced on Wednesday that the Nationals will place the majority of the team's resources into it's depleted minor league system, saying that he is not going to be adding payroll dollars anytime soon.

"People want to, naturally, ask about payroll at the Major League level. Said the new team president, "You are asking me the wrong question. That's not what you should be asking. What you need to be asking me is, 'Are you going to spend the money right away on Minor Leaguers? Are you going to spend money on expanding your scouting? Are you going to be spending money on enhancing your training facilities? Are you going to spend money opening up new scouting complexes in parts of the world? Are you going to be spending money signing additional draft picks?' The answers to those questions are, 'Yes,' and that's the way you do it."

Well, of course that's the way you do it. The minor league system within a professional baseball franchise is like the stock market. Generally, the more money you invest, the more return you see on that investment. I couldn't agree more. But the Nationals' situation is different. The fans are like children in a family who have been repeatedly beaten by their parents; suddenly, someone says, "No one will ever hit you again." Well, that's great, you say, but what about all the trauma suffered from the years of abuse? "I'm afraid to walk into my living room," you say. Well, what about all the abuse we've suffered at the hands of Major League Baseball and the city council. Yes, we want the future to be bright; yes, we want a farm system that will produce stars on a regular basis. But we don't want to wait years for that to happen. We're afraid to walk into RFK stadium right now -- what if we see Bud Selig or Marian Barry? Baseball fans in D.C. have suffered when there was a team, then suffered when there wasn't, and are now suffering once again. I thought the new owner would ride into town on a palamino, a mighty sword in one hand and a sack full of money in the other. I believed that Ted Lerner, and Stan Kasten, would lean into the camera's lens and say, "We're going to make things right by you. Watch as we build the team's farm system while make this team respectable immediately.

I never thought I would hear the new ownership suggest anything resembling "fiscal responsibility," at least not today, not so soon.

Kasten says he's going to build a winning tradition through the farm system, and that any trades made will be for prospects. That's fine. But what do we do until then? There is no help at the triple-A level (the Zephyrs just lost their 11th straight) and the prospects at double-A aren't doing very well early in the season. So how many years will Nationals' fans have to wait until we see the fruits of Kasten's farm system? Four? Five?

This "Additional payroll isn't the answer" concept isn't going to fly. Nats' fans face the prospect of watching a very bad team play in a very bad stadium for another 2-3 years, and the farm system, acknowledged by all as emaciated and moribund, holds no hope for the future. It sounds like Kasten is suggesting that we simply have to wait.

Memo to new ownership: You don't sooth the pain of the last two seasons by saying on the day you're announced as the new owner that increasing payroll isn't the answer. You just told us that the Nationals' $60 million payroll is "doable." It's not. We don't expect you to run this team as if it were the Yankees, but neither do we expect it to be run as if it was the Royals.

We deserve more.

Like flushing toilets at the stadium.

# posted by Farid Rushdi @ 9:38 AM